Earth Watch Report – Earthquakes
Instrumental Intensity
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| 7.8 | 83km E of Khash, Iran | 2013-04-16 10:44:20 | 28.107°N | 62.053°E | 82.0 |
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M7.8 – 83km E of Khash, Iran 2013-04-16 10:44:20 UTC
Event Time
- 2013-04-16 10:44:20 UTC
- 2013-04-16 15:14:20 UTC+04:30 at epicenter
- 2013-04-16 05:44:20 UTC-05:00 system time
Location
28.107°N 62.053°E depth=82.0km (51.0mi)
Nearby Cities
- 83km (52mi) E of Khash, Iran
- 168km (104mi) NE of Iranshahr, Iran
- 192km (119mi) SE of Zahedan, Iran
- 232km (144mi) SSW of Rudbar, Afghanistan
- 606km (377mi) NE of Muscat, Oman
Tectonic Summary
The April 16, 2013 M 7.8 earthquake east of Khash, Iran, occurred as a result of normal faulting at an intermediate depth in the Arabian plate lithosphere, approximately 80 km beneath the Earth’s surface. Regional tectonics are dominated by the collisions of the Arabian and India plates with Eurasia; at the longitude of this event, the Arabian plate is converging towards the north-northeast at a rate of approximately 37 mm/yr with respect to the Eurasian plate. Arabian plate lithosphere is subducted beneath the Eurasian plate at the Makran coast of Pakistan and Iran, and becomes progressively deeper to the north.
The subducted Arabian plate is known to be seismically active to depths of about 160 km. The frequency of moderate and large earthquakes within the subducted Arabian plate is not high compared with similar events in some other subducted plates worldwide, but several earthquakes have occurred within this slab in the region of today’s event over the past 40 years, including a magnitude 6.7 shock 50 km to the south in 1983. In January of 2011, a M 7.2 earthquake occurred approximately 200 km to the east, in a similar tectonic environment to the April 16 earthquake.
Seismotectonics of the Middle East and Vicinity
No fewer than four major tectonic plates (Arabia, Eurasia, India, and Africa) and one smaller tectonic block (Anatolia) are responsible for seismicity and tectonics in the Middle East and surrounding region. Geologic development of the region is a consequence of a number of first-order plate tectonic processes that include subduction, large-scale transform faulting, compressional mountain building and crustal extension.
Mountain building in northern Pakistan and Afghanistan is the result of compressional tectonics associated with collision of the India plate moving northwards at a rate of 40 mm/yr with respect to the Eurasia plate. Continental thickening of the northern and western edge of the India subcontinent has produced the highest mountains in the world, including the Himalayan, Karakoram, Pamir and Hindu Kush ranges. Earthquake activity and faulting found in this region, as well as adjacent parts of Afghanistan and India, are due to collisional plate tectonics.
Beneath the Pamir-Hindu Kush Mountains of northern Afghanistan, earthquakes occur to depths as great as 200 km as a result of remnant lithospheric subduction. Shallower crustal earthquakes in the Pamir-Hindu Mountains occur primarily along the Main Pamir Thrust and other active Quaternary faults, which accommodate much of the region’s crustal shortening. The western and eastern margins of the Main Pamir Thrust display a combination of thrust and strike-slip mechanisms.
Along the western margin of the Tibetan Plateau, in the vicinity of southeastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, the India plate translates obliquely relative to the Eurasia plate, resulting in a complex fold-and-thrust belt known as the Sulaiman Range. Faulting in this region includes strike-slip, reverse-slip and oblique-slip motion and often results in shallow, destructive earthquakes. The relatively fast moving left-lateral, strike-slip Chaman Fault system in southeastern Afghanistan accommodates translational motion between the India and Eurasia plates. In 1505, a segment of the Chaman Fault system near Kabul, Afghanistan ruptured causing widespread destruction of Kabul and surrounding villages. In the same region, the more recent 30 May 1935, M7.6 Quetta, Pakistan earthquake, occurred within the Sulaiman Range, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people.
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Updates From RSOE EDIS
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Earthquake in Iran on Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 at 11:12 (11:12 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Powerful earthquakes (M7.8) has been observed in State of Baluchestan, Iran on 16.04.2013 at 10:44 UTC. The earthquake’s hypocenter was 15 kilometres depth. This earthquake is shallow depth and major class, very likely to have caused significant damage in the region. |
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Earthquake in Iran on Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 at 11:12 (11:12 AM) UTC.
| Updated: | Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 at 12:06 UTC |
| Description | |
| At least 40 people are feared dead in Iran following a powerful earthquake near its border with Pakistan, Iran’s state-run Press TV reported Tuesday, citing local reports. The earthquake was preliminarily measured at 7.8 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter was 53 miles east-southeast of the Iranian town of Khash, 103 miles northeast of Iranshahr and 123 miles south-east of Zahedan, according to the USGS. Shafiq Ahmed, an official with Pakistan’s metreological department, told CNN the tremor, which he put at magnitude 7.9, struck inside southern Iran, near the border with Pakistan. Tremors were felt in southern Pakistan, including the city of Karachi, and across Balochistan province from Gwadar on the southern coast to Quetta and the border with Iran. Carrieann Bedwell, a USGS seismologist, said a 7.8 magnitude earthquake was “a large event for any area” and could be expected to cause damage in inhabited places. Aftershocks can be expected for days or weeks after a quake of the magnitude, she said. The earthquake was felt as far away as Abu Dhabi, where buildings shook for 40 seconds or more, but it’s not yet clear what damage has been caused across the region. | |
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Earthquake in Iran on Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 at 11:12 (11:12 AM) UTC.
| Updated: | Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 at 13:31 UTC |
| Description | |
| A powerful earthquake that struck southeastern Iran was felt in several countries in Asia on Tuesday, rocking buildings in the Indian capital of New Delhi, sending panicked resident of Karachi, Pakistan, fleeing into the streets and causing tremors through Persian Gulf states. Iranian officials said they expected hundreds of deaths. The earthquake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was near Khash, Iran, not far from Iranâ | |
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Earthquake in Iran on Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 at 11:12 (11:12 AM) UTC.
| Updated: | Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 at 16:09 UTC |
| Description | |
| major earthquake flattened homes and offices on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border Tuesday, rattling buildings as far away as New Delhi and Dubai. Iranian state media said at least 46 people died, but later Iranian reports offered a far milder picture. The discrepancies and apparent backtracking in the Iranian reports could not be immediately reconciled, but Iran has faced two large quakes in less than week and authorities could seek to downplay casualties. Iran’s state-run Press TV initially said at least 40 people were killed on the Iranian side, but later removed the figure from its website and news scroll. Other state-controlled outlets, including the official IRNA news agency, mentioned no deaths and only injuries, quoting a local official. | |
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Earthquake in Iran on Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 at 11:12 (11:12 AM) UTC.
| Updated: | Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 at 19:32 UTC |
| Description | |
| Iran’s Red Crescent said it was facing a “complicated emergency situation” in Sistan and Baluchistan, where villages are scattered over desolate hills and valleys. A resident in the quake zone, Manouchehr Karimi, told The Associated Press by phone that “the quake period was long” and occurred “when many people were at home to take a midday nap.” Iranian state TV said power and communications systems were down in the province. | |
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Quake rocks Iran and Pakistan |
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A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes southeastern Iran near border with Pakistan, killing at least 15 people.
Last Modified: 16 Apr 2013 15:15
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A magnitude 7.8 earthquake has struck southeastern Iran near the border with Pakistan, reportedly killing at least 15 people, with casualties feared to rise, according multiple news sources.
The US Geological Survey said on Tuesday that the epicentre of the quake was 86km southeast of Khash, Iran.
According to the Iranian FARS news agency, several people were killed in the sparsely populated region.
An Iranian government official said on he feared more casualties from the earthquake.
“It was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of dead,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
A resident in the quake zone, Manouchehr Karimi, told AP by phone that “the quake period was long” and occurred “when many people were at home to take a midday nap”.
In Panjgur in the Pakistan state of Balochistan, five more people were confirmed killed, Balochistan home secretary told Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid. In a village called Mashkel, dozens of mud houses have reportedly collapsed.
Another Al Jazeera correspondent in Pakistan also quoted “eye witnesses” as saying that thousands of homes were “fully destroyed” in areas near Iran’s border with Pakistan.
Al Jazeera’s Saira Jaffer, reporting from Islamabad, said tremors were also felt across Karachi and Balochistan.
Many buildings in Karachi were reportedly evacuated.
In the Indian capital New Delhi, tall buildings shook sending people running into the streets, witnesses told Reuters.
Across the Gulf, people also evacuated shaking buildings in Qatar and Dubai, residents said. Dubai has the world’s tallest tower, the 828-metre Burj Khalifa.
Last week, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake also hit Iran killing at least 37 people and injuring 850 more in the country’s southwest.
In December 2003, a big earthquake struck the southern city of Bam. It killed 31,000 people – about a quarter of the population – and destroyed the city’s ancient mud-built citadel.
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